Opie

Winners and losers according to Ross McKeon: Yahoo Article

WOW if I were a player I would never, and I mean never, sign with the Yotes!!! Why, on earth do the owners have a team, I am not questioning the fans here, but The team will never win with these owners, it is like they are using the team as a simple money making strategy (bad one at that), this team needs to be moved, contracted, or get new owners!

I like to refer to this as AROD simplex I, this is when he is on the team however the team performs better with him not in the lineup. AROD Simplex II is when the team's overall record increases when said superstar is traded for 2 prospects and a pick. AROD Simplex III is when the star player is absolutely infatuated with a player who was on the team before said superstar got there, but in a completely non-*** way! AROD simplex IV is when the star player joins your team and destroys the chemistry and you wish your team had the 2 prospects and a pick back. AROD simplex V is actually the first stage of Manny-itis which is when you are so fed up with the player you are willing trade him to another team and offer to pay his whole salary, and said team asks you to throw in another player because this guy free is not worth the headaches!!! Sorry for the baseball analogy!

Wow they will miss Lashoff, good pick up for Tampa, I say long Term Tampa won this one. Short term Good for B's

With no Hossa, No Homer, and No Lilja the wings struggle and only win 5-2, Conk and the boys let up two PP goals. Dats, Z, Cleary line gets 3 ES goals 2nd PP gets 2 I don't know I am just making this s*** up as I go!! Win this game boys and never look back, then I don't have to shave my head for the Pres trophy bet!!!!!

Watching Streaming Sports online, the next Napster!!!!! Listen if they offered it for 5 bucks a month sure I am in, but it is like iTunes charging $1 a song, bulls*** not when I can go to a Russian site and completely legally pay for and download music at $.20 a song $2 for an album through my Visa. Just like getting my Jerseys from China (even though they are made in Canada) for $30 (most expensive Jersey I bought was the Z) while the NHL.com ones that are cheaper material, and lesser quality in general are 5x's the price. I am not complaining that atdhe is down, I used it while I could, but if the NHL thinks in this market/economy I am going to pay 5 times as much to get a service from them instead of a cheaper avenue, they are full of s***, now if they made the price reasonable, sure I am all over it, until then, they can Suck it. IF the NHL, big IF, really wanted to market the game, they would make 1 game a night available free with Streaming, or make streaming cheap, it is a minimal extra cost to stream the game (remember they already have streaming games and highlights accessible) and if they did it at a low price, people who don't have Versus can watch Hockey without paying through the nose. Why is America so afraid of technology, the President can't have a black berry, music can't be downloaded, TV can't be on the Internet, sports games can't be on the internet! WHY?

I am a little weary of you last sentence, I believe Dats is the best forward, but I still think best all around player in the game is #5!

Talk around here is Kessel again, this happened last year, they threatened to trade him, can't fine a suitor, bench him, bring him back, he is hot for 2 weeks and then goes back to being inconsistent. He is young and has a lot of upside, but he is also a RFA at seasons end along with Krecji and Hunwick. Then they have Fernandez, Thomas, Axelsson and Hnidy as UFAs. I think Kessel is going to need to be shopped. Word around here is they badly want Pronger, the Ducks could easily make them throw in Axelson, Hunwick, Wheeler, or any other prospect (other than Rask) and the Bruins would almost have to take the deal! Hell I bet if they offered the Ducks Kessel and Ference the Ducks would take it! The Bruins while their last two games make it look deceiving have been struggling on offense, sure they put 6 up on the Panthers and Ducks, but lets be honest neither of those teams are superb defensive talents (Spare me I said last season the Ducks D was overrated, and it is more so this year). In my opinion the B's are dumb to go after another D-man, Chara and Wideman are having better years than Pronger already, they need a top tier forward, Lucic is slowing down, Kessel is inconsistent, Bergeroen I am not sure will ever be himself again, Savard is a beast, Ryder is streaky and right now is hot, but streaky. I think they would be better off trying to get an Eric Cole, there is talk around here that they are after Cole or Tkachuk, which in my opinion is a better move for them, well at least the Cole part, Tkachuk will just be back in Stl next year with whatever you gave up to get him!

Just got my second order from LITB, let me tell you this much, as long as these guys are around I will not but Jerseys from anywhere else!!!!! 1 Zetterberg Jersey 29.99, w/SC patch, Fight Strap and it is by far higher quality than the $150 Dats Jersey my folks bought me for x-mas off of NHL.com 1 Polomalu SB Jersey 22.99 w/patches, black (Steelers wore white) it is a legit licensed NFL Equipment Jersey (my friend is weird and wanted one no one would have) 2 Pierce Jersey 16.99 (a piece) NBA Authentic!! All of the Jerseys together cost me $142 with Expedited shipping they got here in about 2.5 weeks, and all of them are better than I expected and better quality than Jerseys I have bought from NHL.com, NBA.com, NFL.com. If you have a paypal account this site is without a doubt worth the risk, yes my first attempt at a Zata Jersey could have gone better (as in if they had not tried to replace it with Cheli) but the 8 jersey I paid for and received are more than worth the price. BUT buyer beware, they have the cheaper version of these jerseys, they have t-shirt jerseys, make sure you know what you are ordering before you get it, and you shouldn't be disappointed! I will post pics and put the Zata next to my Dats for comparrison, but LITB is a great way to get cheap jerseys if you don't mind that the lettering is a little off!! EDIT: I will say this much up front: Dats Jersey is one layer material, white, and basically see through (from NHL) the Zata is two layers, thick and because it is red there is no seeing through it!!! You can see the Name plate on the Dats in my avatar, the Z is stitch on to the jersey no name plate!!!

MY opinion: Flip + Howard for Lehtonen. Conk for a Pick to who knows? I want to see J-Ho in the winged wheel more than any one except Jimmy and his family, however I just don't think it is in the cards for him. I see the Wings offering Lehtonen a Champions discount offer (It isn't a home town discount) with Ozzie as his backup and Larsson and McCollum to continue in the AHL, I also see the Wings asking Malts to hang them up, letting Sammy walk, and I actually see Franzen chasing bigger money! Now before you read that as a slight on Mule, this is his last chance to really get paid, he is looking his best ever, will be 30 sooner than later, I don't blame him for wanting to chase his one big pay day. Leino, Helm, and Ericsson will be on this roster next season, Kenny will find a way to get these 3 on the Wings roster. I think that Malts and Sammy are replaced by Helm and Abdelkader (Or UFA) and Flip will be replaced after this trade by Leino. Hudler and Hossa are both signed in the offseason! ZDH Hudler Leino Hossa Abdelkader/??? Helm Cleary Kopecky Draper Abdelkader/??? (??? I tryly see the wings filling this the cheapest way possible so as not to be too Hamstrung against the cap, this lineup also takes Lehtonen, Hossa, Hudler taking discounted offers into account, so it could be complete fantasy) Lids Ralf Kronwall Stuart Lilja Ericsson Meech Lebda Lehtonen Ozzie (I didn't bother trying to do salary numbers as Nearly half of the team I suggested will have new numbers next year!) The only problem here is that, next season if Lehtonen says no to the discount the Wings are in the same boat they are this year.

RE: bolded Worse case scenario Wings get draft picks, same with Hudler they are both RFAs at the end of the year.

I think that is the way the org planned it, they made it appear they were going after Brunnstrom, all the other teams saw this as the Wings getting another great Swede and said screw that our turn. Mean while everyone is watching the one hand in the Brunnstrom mix, while the other hand is preparing to go after Leino. But that is just one man's opinion, well maybe two or three!

I just wanted to respond to this part, you posted it at about the same time I got suspended and couldn't reply: I am not trying to pretend to know more about the people of Detroit than you, I just find it very hard to believe that fighting is the only reason there are empty seats in the Joe. That was all that my point was, not that I know more about Detroit than you or its people. What I do know is that Detroit is one of, if not the, hardest hit cities in the USA by this recession, I find it hard to believe that if the Wings were fighting 20-30 times a season that the Joe would now be sold out all season. Not trying to restart the argument just wanted to explain myself.

Congrats Dats!!! That was a quiet 500!

OOPs looks like we will have to take this up another time I just got suspended. Knew it was coming!! Peace OUT Cub Scout!

Then as I stated in another post, I was not referring to you, it pisses you off, fine, this is why I gave you the benefit of the doubt. We have differing opinions, but you can articulate yours to the point where I feel like you are still happy with this team but would want to see a fighter, same with GS&T I am cool with that always have been. The only time I have discussed this with you guys was to defend my opinion. My statements in this thread have been mainly geared towards the posters saying this team was embarrassing to root for. If weren't saying that then the first of my posts you replied to wasn't aimed at you and I wasn't disagreeing with you. Kopecky and Maltby I could both do with out, but the Wings have their reasons for keeping them, I expressed my issues with Maltby in a preseason thread, therefore I don't feel the need to make a thread every other day about it or bring it up in almost every thread. Hey replace whomever you want with whomever you want, but my opinion will probably differ. Replace Kopecky with whomever you think fits in the cap and wont cost the Wings a ton in return. Well, actually, neither you nor I are in a position to even know what they have talked about in terms of trading for who. Maybe they offered something for Neil but it wasn't enough, who knows, certainly not a bunch of hockey nuts(me included) on a Wings discussion board!

No GS&T I was actually cool with McLoed as long as the team wins I am cool with whomever, McLeod could join the team and they could turn into the machine (Both sides of the ice) they were last year, I don't know that. I don't care if the fourth line is all scrappers, as long as the team keeps winning like this, count me in as a happy Red Wings fan. Now like I said if this team as is, had turned into the Pens, great last year, hoping to make the post season this year, I would be bulls***!! However they are 3rd in the league, I really can't complain about that. I honestly don't think adding McLeod would change things much, as far as W's and L's. I don't think he is going to make great timely saves nor be the top PKer, areas the team needs help. However he could re-energize a locker room. But I have a feeling if Hossa didn't re-energize the locker room not too many players will. My point in the other post was supposed to be sure I'll take anyone as long as they keep winning.

I'm with this guy!!! The possibility of signing Hossa is there, but I just don't see it in the cards, too costly (Depth). But man what fun it has been watching him this season! OHH the players that would have followed Hossa if they won this year, Kovie would have wanted a piece of the action, who knows the countless other players that would come to Detroit for 6-7 mil a year and a cup!!!

I never said they should or shouldn't give up the roster spot, that is an org decision, and based on their success rate I give them the benefit of the doubt. Call me a homer fine, but if the Wings were fighting for an 8 seed right now I would be bitching about how the team is run. I never said you should have that opinion. But seriously esteef where does Quincey fit into the equation, would he dress this year, I think he would have been Meech in sometimes out most times. Helm and Leino yeah they would be good to add, if they could, the wings because they valued Marian Hossa over the players in the system is what has the wings in this horrible predicament. The team since Bowman has been about rolling 4 lines, and it has been super effective in the past 15 or so years. Sure the Wings could spare the roster spot, they choose not to, if that embarrasses you I am sorry you need to worry about other things rather than how the image of your team reflects upon you!

This guy is good at hockey posts!!!!

If he is available and the Wings are interested sure, that is my whole point I don't give a crap who it is on the team, I don't care if it is Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg or Lindstrom, Daigle, and Aki Beg as long as they win, you guys keep bringing up names, sure fine I don't care as long as the Wings keep winning. Why does it matter who it is as long as they win! I will give my opinion on the player when and if they are signed, but after that it is a matter of how the team does in L's and W's!!

esteef, come on dude, I will give you more credit than that, we were just having a discussion about the two sides going to extremes (Billy Joel reference anyone?) then you bring up the "I am just pointing out a weakness the team has" yeah no s***, they have a weakness, did you also post any time in the past that it was embarrassing to be a wings fan because of the lack of fights, if so you are not pointing out weaknesses, if not than I wasn't talking about you. I gave you more credit than I should have I guess, but I thought you would have been able to decipher that! I will also contend that Downey would be a top 12 forward on most of those teams that have multiple enforcers, they don't have 3 top 20 forwards in the league, they don't have the best player in the world on their team (#5) they also don't have cap issues, they also don't have 3 times as many wins as losses. This team is littered with high level talent, people here ***** about Sammy, Lilja, and Lebda well there are about 20 teams in the league that would love the Wings left overs.

I appreciate the support and I knew a ban was possible from the moment I started typing. He wants retaliation on the ice but not on the Discussion boards! EDIT: That pun was unintended and horrible!

IF McLeod were available sure as hell I would take him, there are guys out there yes, but how may of them have the control Downey displayed last year, and how many of them are available. The reason I gained so much respect for Downey was not how he fought, but when he fought. He displayed tremendous control, he picked his spots and did it very very well. I am not saying I wouldn't take any of the guys you mentioned, I just want a W, I could give two s***s if they bang all night of if the tip toe through the tulips humming Tiny Tim in the ears of the other team, as long as they get a W. IF it is embarrassing to you (Not GS&T this is a broader question) to be a fan of the Wings in its current state, how embarrassing is it to lose to this team, not very you know why, they are perennially one of the best teams in the league! Complaining about one facet of the game, whilst the team is the best team in the league over a 15 year span, would make me a spoiled fan. Ask the Preds fan that just posted, would he rather have a team like the Wings the past 4 years or like the Preds of the last 4 years. If the Preds could swap rosters with the Wings today would he do it?